SPEAKERS
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
KAMALDEEP BHUI
Kamaldeep Bhui CBE MD FRCPsych is Professor of Psychiatry and Senior Research Fellow at Wadham College, University of Oxford, Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at Oxford Health and East London NHS Foundation Trusts, Honorary Professor at QMUL, and Co-Director of NIHR ARC Thames Valley. Kam is Director of WPA Collaborating Centre UK, Centre for Understanding Personality, and academic lead at the Public Mental Health Implementation Centre, RCPsych. His work spans cultural psychiatry, epidemiology, health services research, experience based co design, policy, and public and global mental health. He has just published his first novel, The Maharaja’s Bodyguard.
JULIA IOANE
Folasāitu Professor Julia Ioane (Pasifika)
Julia is a clinical psychologist (NZ, NSW) and
academic (Massey University) whose work has shaped the fields of youth justice, childhood trauma, and Pasifika mental health. She advocates for culturally grounded psychological practice, ensuring that Pasifika experiences and healing traditions are valued in mental health. Her research are predominantly in Justice with a focus on children/youth often drawing on Indigenous (Pasifika) knowledge. In practice, she provides assessment/therapy to children, young people and their families across Court jurisdictions and an expert witness. She is also a consultant psychologist to Samoa in the Justice sector. Julia is currently a member of the NZ Parole Board and Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal.
SAMANTHA LOI
Associate Professor Samantha Loi is a neuropsychiatrist and old age psychiatrist at the Neuropsychiatry Centre, Royal Melbourne Hospital and academic at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne. In her role she leads the inpatient ward, providing assessment and management of people referred for cognitive impairment in the context of psychiatric disorders.
GIN MALHI
Professor Gin S. Malhi runs the CADE Clinic based at Royal North Shore Hospital (NSLHD) and is a full professor at The University of Sydney in Australia. He is also a Visiting Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Oxford University and serves as the College Editor for the Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK, and the Editor-in-Chief of The British Journal of Psychiatry. He is the President-Elect for the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP), and is an ISI-Highly-Cited researcher with more than 1000 publications including the RANZCP mood disorders guidelines and Lancet Depression Seminars.
SUZANNE PITAMA
Suzanne (Ngāti Kahungunu) is
the Head of Faculty, University of Otago Faculty of Medicine. A registered psychologist and member of the New Zealand Psychological Society, Suzanne has dedicated over 20 years to advancing Māori health research and health professional education.
Her work is grounded in cultural competency and safety, exemplified by the development of an Indigenous Health model that supports both Indigenous and non-Indigenous health professionals in embedding cultural responsiveness into their practice.
DAN SISKIND
Prof Siskind trained as a psychiatrist in Australia and the United States. He works clinically as a psychiatrist in Brisbane, Australia with people with treatment refractory schizophrenia. His research interests include treatment refractory schizophrenia, clozapine and the physical health comorbidities associated with schizophrenia. He has over 300 publications and AU$60million in competitive research grants, with over AU$7 million as CIA. He was the SIRS 2026 Outstanding Clinical and Community Research Award recipient.
LORI ZOELLNER
Lori A. Zoellner, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, University of Washington (UW), Director of the UW Center for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress. Dr. Zoellner's funded research seeks to mechanistically enhance the efficacy and reach of PTSD interventions, including a lay-led intervention for refugees and humanitarian crisis settings. She has published over 195 articles and chapters, including a book on resilience and an upcoming book on PTSD. She has served on the Board of Directors of the International Society for Traumatic Stress, chaired the American Psychological Association’s PTSD Treatment Guidelines Update, and frequently gives workshops on prevention, PTSD, and trauma-focused psychotherapy.
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as the First Nations and the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands and waters now known as Australia, and Māori as tangata whenua in Aotearoa, also known as New Zealand. We recognise those with lived and living experience of a mental health condition, including community members and all RANZCP members. We affirm their ongoing contribution to the improvement of mental healthcare for all people.